Someone said that the music of Yes was “pretty embarrassing lyrically these days.” I beg to differ. This is supposed to be some recent realization? I always knew that “dreamer easy in the chair that really fits you” made absolutely no sense. Yes regards the voice as just another instrument, so the lyrics aren’t usually all that important (unless you’re listening to the songs written by the non-Anderson faction on the Union album).

This point was underlined when D—- bought a Karaoke Mate from Radio Shack. This is a device that removes the lead vocals as you play recorded music so that you can sing along with the instruments and backups. It works for stereo recordings that are mixed conventionally, with the lead vocals in the center and the accompaniments to one side or the other. It compares the left and right channels and subtracts out anything that is the same on both sides.

[The good folks at Making Light were playing a parlor game called Literary Divination. “My challenge to you, dear friends: deal out a Tarot reading, using books (or films, or any other work) as cards. You can use the Celtic Cross, or any other format, doing a full layout or part of one. Your querent may be real or imaginary, your books from any genre or style. You can examine any aspect of your querent. There are no rules, except one. Don’t be boring.” This was my contribution.]

I’ll do Luke Skywalker too.

This covers him, defining the problem space: The Wizard Of Oz. Eldritch forces contend for control of the world.

This crosses him, showing the nature of his challenge: The Wizard Of Oz. The querent is plucked from his home and voluntold to play a pivotal role in beating back the advances of evil.

This crowns him, representing the best possible outcome: The Wizard Of Oz. The survivors get to go home.

This is beneath him, the foundation of the matter: The Wizard Of Oz. An orphan reaches moral maturity by learning to assess the virtues and vices of those around him, and then himself.

This is behind him, where he has been: The Wizard Of Oz. An isolated rural upbringing with Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.

This is before him, where he is going: The Wizard Of Oz. He seeks the aid of a reputed good power (the rebel alliance), which can’t actually do much for him except encourage him to rely on the virtue that is already within him.

The Significator, defining the Querent: The Wizard Of Oz. If you can’t see Luke = Dorothy, you need to retune your gaydar.

His environment: The Wizard Of Oz. On the road with the Scarecrow (Chewbacca), the Cowardly Lion (Han Solo), the Tin Man (the chilly Princess Leia), and Toto (R2D2 and C3PO). Somehow, Toto, I’ve a feeling that traveling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops in Kansas.

His fears: The Wizard Of Oz. This film was very early in Judy Garland’s career and she never made a more popular one. Will it be the same for Mark Hamill?

Culmination, how it all comes out: The Wizard Of Oz. A good witch holds secrets about his destiny, which could have been revealed much earlier but then the movie would have only been twenty minutes long.

Yes, I’d been thinking about that comparison before. And by the way, the line-up of characters between the two works was meant to match their personalities rather than their appearances. If you went by looks, the obvious match-up is Princess Leia = Dorothy, R2D2 = Tin Man, Chewbacca = Cowardly Lion, and Luke = Scarecrow. But I dare you to call Chewbacca cowardly to his face!

Jack Kenny, the creator of a recent short-lived television series called The Book of Daniel, wondered why his fellow gays and lesbians didn’t fight back when the American Family Association attacked him. They said that an openly gay man had no business writing a show that mentions Jesus and Christianity. He would have appreciated more articles in the gay press and unspecified forms of uproar and protest. He asks why gay and lesbian people don’t stand up for themselves more often.

Well, in this case I’m sure there are all the usual reasons – people didn’t hear about the controversy in time, they thought it was remote from their concerns, they thought someone else would respond. Isn’t that what the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is for?

In my case, I have a particular reason I didn’t bother to defend Mr. Kenny and his show. It’s merely a television program, and I don’t care.